CZI Community highlights

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Winter 2024

Dear John,

At the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, we believe that building a thriving community starts with collaboration, innovation, and empowering people to drive meaningful change. Whether addressing the urgent need for equitable affordable housing, supporting local entrepreneurs, or fostering economic mobility and inclusion, our work is rooted in a vision of a California where everyone has the resources and agency to shape their future.

This year, we’ve been inspired by the collective efforts of so many partners — grantees, community leaders, advocates, civic leaders, and neighbors — who have come together to drive transformative progress. From the five year anniversary of the Partnership for the Bay’s Future ([link removed] ) , showcasing actionable strategies for tackling housing challenges, to the success of the Local Rental Owners Collaborative ([link removed] ) , preventing displacement while enhancing tenant quality of life.

We’re especially grateful for the collaboration that brought the Begins with Home campaign ([link removed] ) to life, amplifying stories of resilience and hope in the housing justice movement. Meanwhile, local nonprofits transformed the CZI Community Space into a vibrant hub for connection and creativity ([link removed] ) , hosting hundreds of events and nearly 7,000 community members this year.

These achievements are a testament to the power of partnership and shared purpose. Together, we are not just imagining a better future but actively building it. We are deeply grateful for your dedication and feel immensely inspired to continue this work alongside you. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

In Community,

Ruby Bolaria Shifrin

Vice President, Community

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Housing Affordability

- The Partnership for the Bay’s Future (PBF) celebrated its 5-year anniversary in the spring! It marked this milestone with an event at the Commonwealth Club and the release of a playbook highlighting key lessons ([link removed] ) , strategies, and innovations from five years of advancing equitable affordable housing solutions across the Bay Area. In 2019, CZI and the San Francisco Foundation convened a coalition of housing leaders from the philanthropic, private, nonprofit, and public sectors to create PBF, with the goal of developing creative and effective responses to some of the region’s most formidable housing challenges. The Playbook shares best practices that other regions can replicate and serves as a resource for policymakers, community leaders, housing advocates, and funders.

- CZI helped launch the Local Rental Owners Collaborative (LROC) in 2021 ([link removed] ) , a first-of-its-kind pilot program supporting community-rooted rental owners in South Los Angeles with rental relief, property management solutions and maintenance assistance to prevent displacement. Today, of the 52 participating owners representing about 300 units, 50% said they would have been forced to sell their building without LROC intervention, and no tenant has been evicted during this time. Furthermore, 88% of owners used LROC funds to make property repairs, improving tenants quality of living. Read more about ([link removed] ) LROC ([link removed] ) ’s ([link removed] ) impact ([link removed] ) .

- Launched in fall 2023 by housing affordability organizations and CZI grantees All Home and the Non-Profit Housing Association (NPH), the Begins with Home campaign ([link removed] ) aims to show the Bay Area that when it comes to building a future of housing justice, hope is possible and they have the power to make change happen by working together. The campaign’s Housing Justice Storytelling Initiative is designed to empower and engage storytellers, strengthen video production skills within the housing justice movement, and build narrative power, so that people can see and believe in a future where everyone can afford to live and thrive in the Bay Area. All Home and NPH recently hosted a film premiere at the CZI Community Space showcasing powerful stories from the Housing Justice Storytelling Initiative. Read more ([link removed] ) .

Economic Mobility and Inclusion

- Our Inclusive Entrepreneurship grantees came together in the CZI Community Space for a second annual convening. Grantee partners participated in an ideation session to examine whether there are mutual AI needs that can serve partners and/or entrepreneurs. Looking ahead, we are exploring AI opportunities that can fulfill these needs and have a session planned with Exygy, a digital innovation studio on a mission to build resilient and healthy communities, to guide this work. We served 3,734 entrepreneurs through our portfolio across the Spring and Fall.
- Grantee partner Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center recently hosted an inaugural Holiday Night Market in the CZI Community Space. The event featured over a dozen local small business owners who showcased handcrafted products, including artisanal accessories, candles, streetwear, and vegan snacks. The market aimed to support local entrepreneurs during the holiday season, emphasizing the importance of shopping locally to invest in community dreams and livelihoods. This event aligns with CZI's commitment to fostering economic inclusion and supporting small businesses in the Bay Area. Learn more ([link removed] ) .

San Mateo County Partnerships

- The CZI Community Fund is a critical part of our work and impact in San Mateo County and furthers our mission to build an equitable, inclusive and just California. Since its inception in 2017, the Community Fund has supported more than 200 local nonprofits that offer social supports around economic mobility, health, education, youth enrichment and more. Meet our most recent grantees here ([link removed] ) .

- The CZI Community Space ([link removed] ) continues to be a hub for healing, transformation and learning for San Mateo County nonprofits. This year, the Community Space held 255 events, welcomed more than 6,700 guests, grew utilization to 94%, and saved local organizations more than $500,000 in event space fees. Since 2022, the Community Space has helped catalyze change by hosting 465 events, welcoming 13,642 guests, and providing $827,808 in savings for organizations. We’re now piloting evening hours! Stay tuned for more details in 2025.

- CZI’s Community team recently joined fellow funders and elected officials in a daylong, immersive tour of the coastside hosted by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Funders heard from grantee partners Coastside Hope ([link removed] ) , ALAS ([link removed] ) and Puente, ([link removed] ) who provide critical services to low & moderate income communities and farmworkers on the coast including Half Moon Bay and Pescadero. The tour spotlighted the resilience and needs of farmworkers & families. The tour also strengthened collaboration among grantees and funders and created a space to share ideas and co-develop impactful solutions for the future.

Meet the Team

Alma Pulido (on left) and community members socialize during a Community Space open house.

Meet Alma

As a Local Impact Program Officer, I get to partner and work with organizations in the communities that I call home.

Through the CZI Community Fund we support organizations that are increasing the building blocks of social and economic well-being for all, including affordable housing and other basic needs.

We strive to build power so communities have the agency to change or shape decisions that affect them.

News and Announcements

- Come celebrate with us! We are thrilled to share that the Community Space is expanding its eligibility in 2025 to allow any Bay Area nonprofit that includes San Mateo County residents in their work to use the space and host events. Join us to celebrate this milestone at an Open House in the Community Space on January 30, from 1-4:30 p.m. RSVP today ([link removed] ) .

- Ruby Bolaria Shifrin was named one of the San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business ([link removed] ) ! Ruby was among nearly 400 women considered for the honor and was recognized for her leadership and impact in the housing affordability space and across CZI. In her remarks to the Business Times, Ruby shared her belief that philanthropic leaders have the power to help financial markets work better for underserved communities by parsing out real risk from perceived risk.

- Grantee Terner Labs recently launched The Builders Lab ([link removed] ) , a CZI-seeded accelerator program that works with emerging leaders in architecture, engineering, construction and hardware manufacturing to scale more cost effective and sustainable methods of building homes across the U.S. This fall, the Builders’ Lab announced its first cohort of six organizations ([link removed] ) , which will receive support, coaching and industry expertise to advance their innovations, helping further Community’s mission to improve housing affordability and access.

- Being a successful change-maker in philanthropy and creating meaningful change in our communities has to come with embracing risk and sometimes even failure, says Ruby Bolaria Shifrin. Ruby joined Alex Schafran on the podcast, “Housing After Dark,” to talk about philanthropy’s role in addressing the housing crisis, including Community’s work to expand housing affordability and access across California. Listen to the episode ([link removed] ) .

- NBA superstars Jaylen Brown and Jason Kidd joined Inclusive Entrepreneurship grantee Oakstop to announce the Xchange ([link removed] ) , a national strategy aimed at driving economic growth in historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. Oakstop, a nonprofit that provides workspace options for artists, startups, non-profits, and freelancers in Oakland, will lead the Xchange locally. Their work drives impact and aligns with CZI’s mission to build an equitable, inclusive, and just California where everyone has the power to shape their future.

- The CZI Community team recently sponsored the Hack for Social Impact ([link removed] ) in San Francisco, where more than 30 teams of volunteer software engineers, designers and data scientists presented AI projects to help nonprofits solve real-world problems ([link removed] ) . Projects supporting the work of CZI grantees Terner Center for Housing Innovation and Community Legal Services East Palo Alto placed among the top 3 winners! Winning teams received a small grant to continue working with nonprofit partners to refine and implement their projects.

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